Wonderfully Amazing Green Salad and homemade Ranch

Easter is coming up right around the corner and there are bound to be gatherings with family or friends.  (Or if not, why not host your own!!?)

What is your usual assignment? Are you always asked to bring a bag of chips?  (I hope not!) 

Do you  get assigned to bring the salad or relish tray?

Please, please, PLEASE don't tell me you just buy a bag of iceberg lettuce (you know, the kind with a few shredded carrots and a couple of purple stringys in there) and a bottle of Ranch and plunk it down on the table. Please don't do that!!! No one will look twice at your salad; they'll just shove that Ranch bottle aside to reach for the rolls and the funeral potatoes and the corn and the pretty Easter jello with Cool-whip your Aunt Cheryl brought.

Not a single green thing will be eaten.  And you'll be to blame.

How about you show 'em what you're made of and WOW them all with a veggie-loaded salad tray AND homemade Ranch!? Your salad might just be the star of the show. Well, as much as a salad could be. Let's get real; it's no Strawberry Shortcake or Chocolate Mousse Pie, but people will be thanking you for making their salad eating experience more fun.

All of these ingredients should be easily accessible, even though it still seems like the dead of winter.

Pick and choose what you think your fans will love; I like to make sure there's a lot of color involved.

I used: (in no particular order)
grape tomatoes

Sliced cucumber

shredded carrots (see--they're still here!)
green olives

uncooked, frozen but thawed green peas

(could I use any more adjectives?) Just don't open a can.

avocado
black olives
shredded mozzarella cheese

and how about this for the grand finale....
Deviled eggs! Oh, regular hard-boiled eggs would be fine, but these...Wow!

*TIP* The avocado will start to turn brown after it is cut.  I would wait to cut and display as long as you can.  Lemon or lime juice sprinkled over the sliced avocado will slow it down a bit, but not stop it.  Also keeping the pit around the avocado can help too.  Mmm, but they sure are worth it!

Dressing

Go to the store and buy one bottle of the best generic Ranch you can find.
Just kidding

My favorite Ranch

2 C. Mayo
2 C. Buttermilk

8 oz package Cream Cheese

1 t. Onion Salt

1 t. Garlic Salt

1/4 t. Ground Pepper

1/4 t. Accent (optional)

Blend all ingredients in blender and let stand in fridge.

Yields:  6 C. will keep approx. 1 month in fridge

*sometimes I add a garlic clove or two. Yum*